[hider=Nothing defeats the Pride!][center][img]http://i.imgur.com/i60t4Yi.png[/img][/center] [b][u]Vandrell: Hawthorne Manor: Courtyard[/u][/b] "Darling, I've been doing this for 25 years," Moira snarled as she mentally blocked the pain as much as she could. It really wouldn't do to put more pressure on the healer. She could deal. "You'll have to join the queue." [b]“Twenty five years?”[/b] Lucifer chuckled. [b]“You are but a babe.”[/b] “Oi, oi, are you fucking hitting on me?” Moira spat back, charging towards Lucifer with Syed in tow, the electricity mage’s fingers already dancing in rhythmic, practiced gestures to ignite sparks of neon blue electricity. If the situation wasn’t quite so desperate, he might have laughed at Moira’s confusion, but this was hardly the time. They had to be quick, and precise, and they couldn’t let up their attack, not even for a second. Moira managed to block one of Lucifer’s attacks, but there was no guarantee they’d succeed with another. Moira’s sword swung out, the beserker lunging for the still airborne vampiric lord. Syed’s electricity burst from his finger tips, a hopeful initial attack that might surprise the man long enough for Moira to get a good hit in. But Syed’s hope was for naught. Lucifer’s body was engulfed by the electricity, his body glowing and pulsing with the magical attack’s electrocution, but Lucifer took it, and with the same lack of feeling or interest he gave from Lisette and Julius’ attacks. Frustration started to mount in Syed’s mind. First Frank, now this. And Moira’s attack was similarly thwarted, as Lucifer outstretched his hand and gripped the mighty greatsword. He tilted his head, looking at the enraged Berserker. A split second later, Moira and Syed were both airborne, as Lucifer’s hand lifted and cast free the sword that Moira still gripped into the air and far away, landing in an awkward, painful bundle by Lisette’s feet. [b]“Really, I expected better… after all those wonderful stories you told, I thought you might be even a little stronger. But- oof!”[/b] Lucifer’s chastising comments were brought to a close as a large figure burst through the now dissipating smoke, catching Lucifer from behind and driving him into the ground underneath incomparable weight. Lucifer slammed into the ground, hard, and as he tried to push himself back up, a powerful blow slammed into both of his arms, before then beginning a relentless assault on the back of his head. Lucien’s bear summon wasted no time in attacking again, and again, and again. “That’s it, Lucy!” Dylan cheered. “Keep going!” [b]“Hnn… nn… better, but…”[/b] Lucifer’s teeth gritted tightly, as the man renewed his efforts to stand up again. Now having the measure of Lucien’s strength, he was able to pool his own strength together properly, and lift his body up again, despite the large beast’s continued attacks. [b]“But not enough!”[/b] Lucifer’s wings suddenly snapped outwards, and his body burst into the air. Lucien’s beast summon was sent flying backwards through in the air in a wide spiral, almost hitting Dylan in the head before cutting through the rest of the smoke and landing besides Trixie and Julius. Lucifer was now overhead, hovering further in the sky, looking down at his opponents with utter revulsion. [b]“Is this the best you have?!”[/b] “No!” Came a bellowing voice from below. Everyone’s attention snapped to its owner. ”We’re the Pride, and nothing’s going to stop us!” [img]http://i.imgur.com/0ZOCUcl.png[/img] To the slack jawed response of the rest of the Pride, they bore witness as Don flamboyantly took the spotlight, having dashed just a little bit away from Selan and now, turning on the spot, readied one of Dylan’s barbed arrows upon his bow, pointed high in the sky, directly at Lucifer. A bedazzling smile gracing his brilliant display. “Not you, not anyone! Nothing will ever defeat the Pride!!” And with that, Don let loose the deadly arrow. As the bow’s string snapped back into place, the arrow was sent sailing high into the sky…! And in the completely opposite direction to where Lucifer hovered, disappearing in the dark and clattering somewhere harmlessly. Complete silence, and disappointment by everyone involved. Don continued to flash his gleaming smile. [b]“…idiot.”[/b] Another swing of his claws, and Don was streaked with the same powerful raking cuts that Marcus was, his body howling in pain as he tumbled to the ground. “S-s-superbro!” Trixie screamed from Julius and Lucien’s bear side. “That… fucking idiot…” Moira muttered under her breath, one hand gripping a bleeding forehead. “He’s an idiot alright, but that moron’s our idiot! And he’s right!” Another voice, startling the attention of everyone in the courtyard. This time from behind Lucifer…! [img]http://i.imgur.com/fQWT986.png[/img] Trent, streaking towards Lucifer on his hoverboard. Before he could react, he was once again slammed from behind, his body driven towards the ground. Trent gripped onto both of Lucifer’s wings, holding them tightly so as to make sure he couldn’t slip away. And then, seconds before they meteored into the ground, he let go and pushed himself away, whilst Lucifer crashed into the ground with unbelievable power. He back flipped, skidding away from the newly formed crater in the ground. Upon reaching a stop, he looked up, a defiant stare shared by all of his companions. [b]“Nothing defeats the Pride!!”[/b] --- [b]Dannyel[/b] [img]http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag138/enrika01/Dylan2_zps27cb5f1e.png[/img] Dylan ducked as the summon was knocked back, nearly taking his head off. He winced as he turned to watch the bear crashed into the ground. Would Lucy feel it's pain? Regardless, he could sense his magic constructs drawing closer, so he prayed that Selan and Don would be able to make a difference. He was wrong. "Come on!" he shouted, exasperation leaking into his voice. "What the actual fuck?" How was he supposed to help him? He gave Don a ranged weapon, something that could actually hit and do damage to Lucifier, and the man had whiffed completely. Then got cut down like Marcus had Despite his resolve to keep fighting, Dylan wondered what exactly they could accomplish. Syed's attack had done nothing, Lucy's bear had been batted aside like a fly, and Don was….well, Don. They were now down two members. What more could they do? Then Trent appeared from behind Lucifer, taking the creature down with a surprising attack from behind. "Nothing defeats the Pride!!" He didn't know this boy, but dammit, he was right. "We can do this!" he shouted, echoing the man's sentiment. Pulling his slate out, he wiped the bow away and started once to draw once more. The key to the fight would be keeping him grounded, so he drew another ballista and chained spike. It might have been too small for something like the dragon beast, but… focusing his will into it, he strained his magical reserves. It was too much, and the armor on Selan flickered and faded out of existence, moving now into the ballista. Pale with effort, Dylan moved to quickly man the weapon, turning and aiming it down into the crater. With one last, breathless, prayer, he sent the chained spike directly at the monster's wing. --- [b]Bunanigans[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/wv6nkSY.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/T07Xw1w.png[/img] Perhaps it was for the best that Moira didn't hear Lucifer's parting comment. She attempted to orientate herself in the air as to allow herself to land on her feet, although with the velocity she was going at she fell over and was sent rolling anyway. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself back up with her sword, ignoring the large blood smear now across the floor. By now her whole body hurt like hell, her head swimming from the pain. "Fuckin' ass," she murmured, staggering up to a fighting stance. He may have pushed her away, but she'd always come back for more. She didn't do giving up. Especially not now. Especially not with how much they had messed them around. Especially not with how much they were threatening with the summoning of this Abraham or whatever the hell this demon god thing was called. However, she was the only one. Ready to launch herself once more, she turned to glare at Syed who still lay prone on the floor. He had sort of half curled up, wrapping his arm around his chest to cradle his broken rib, while with the other he was trying to push himself off the ground. Trying. "I... I can't..." he choked, clenching his fist in fustration. He had been through too much. He had been through far too much. He tried again, his arm shaking and straining but ultimately failing against the waves of agony shooting across his body. "Oh Vayū, we can't... please..." He choked back tears and took a shallow, shuddering breath. Reaching for his pendant and clutching it tightly, he murmured a prayer - his use of the language fractured and broken. He was never very good at languages. Even the one he was brought up with. It sounded even more off when spoken in a strong Artar accent. "Bē lbeaevāke, jetete gī fepūpese..." Moira's jaw tightened as she glowered down at him. "Get up." "I can't! I can't." He groaned, the noise however cut short as he stifled a sob. "What are we doing, Moira? Playing pretend at being Guilders? I'm not a Guilder, Moira. I deal with kids, not monsters and machines and... and people trying to summon demons..." Moira made no movement towards him. "Get up!" "I can't! I'm trying, I can't... I'm sorry..." His eyes flicked to Lisette. He had tried to be strong for them all. He tried. "...I'm sorry..." "I don't give a shit if you can't or if you're sorry, get up!" Moira shouted perhaps a little too loudly. "It's just us lot Sy. It isn't about if you can or can't anymore." Syed strained as he tried to get up again, although he was once again unsuccessful. He clenched his fist and hit the floor, although that only proved to hurt his hand more than anything else. Moira's eyes softened slightly. Just slightly. "Look, you're a mage. Who gives a shit if your body's had it, you rely on your brain, right? And you've got so good at it in like, a month? Just get the fuck over yourself Sy. We don't stop til I drop, remember." "...That sounded as much like bullshit then as it does now..." Syed gasped, although he finally locked eyes with her. "I don't give a flying fuck! We're too far away. I can't hit him, and I take too long to get there. But you, you're ranged. You don't need to be close." He didn't say anything. She was wrong of course. Did she not see how little his magic affected him? He was too weak, even at full power, and Lucifer was too far away. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't even stand up anymore. However, beyond Moira and high in the sky, he could see the thunderclouds reforming. The spotting of rain was becoming a little heavier, before something deep within one of the clouds something flashed. He rolled onto his back, closed his eyes and held out his hand above him and towards the heavens. Feeling, listening. Unfortunately, once again, his own many many thoughts were easily drowning out the voices. “Nothing defeats the Pride!!” Trent shouted, and Moira's grip on her greatsword tightened. Oh hells yeah. They had a job to do, and this guy could get fucked. "...I don't know what to do..." Syed whispered. He turned his head to look at Lisette. He may be nearly ten years older than her, but he wasn't above asking for help when he needed it. "I don't know what to do! Why can't I hear it? I think... I think it's trying... how...?" --- [b]Rexcalibur[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/Na1JGZp.png[/img] "Fucking..." In the brief moment following Don's failure of a counterattack, his body glowed with a faint green - which remained with him even as he was clawed to the side like a ragdoll. Amy, eyes closed, let out a deep breath as the aura on both herself and Don washed away completely; the man was loud enough for her to pinpoint his location based entirely on his stupid battlecry. The spell was weak, sure, and Amy could only pray it spared him a slightly better fate than Marcus' unforeseen shot. She exhaled deeply once more. Luckily she was lost somewhere in the center of the field, unnoticed while the others kept Lucifer preoccupied. All she had to do was remain calm, to loosen the tension and worry straining her mind so she could regain her magical energy more quickly. Never before had she shot out spells left and right in succession before this day - but just like everyone else, she had to stay strong. She needed to be of use where she was needed most. [img]http://i.imgur.com/yO2NSRJ.png[/img] Trixie sprung from Julius' side as a bear crash-landed beside them. Instinctively she reached for her remaining (albeit useless) bombs, remembering the predator that had assaulted them back in the Woods of Wier. But this bear... this one was injured. He didn't seem to want to hurt the guilders either - was it on their side? Where do all these random but really nice animals keep coming from, anyway?? She shook her head violently. No, no, now was not the time to think about stuff like that. And she immediately snapped out of it upon hearing Don's taunt and crash. Trixie looked to Julius following the man's painful wails, expecting, hoping for some sort of answer from him. What do, what do, what do... Her ears twitched then. Another crash, accompanied with a really heroic motto, had disturbed the battlefield. The sound of some chains shooting off from somewhere relatively nearby followed suit. With some scouring and partially due to the smoke clearing up more and more, she could see the silhouette of something spiky blast off in the distance. Ah, the boarder guy was right - they've still got the means to win! They're the heroes of this tale, after all! Trixie's thought process immediately jumped back to a sense of worry, a sense of confusion. It was as if the smoke, her own maneuver, clouded her very thoughts themselves. Ugh, it was just so conflicting...! Can't she just close her eyes and make everything go away!? A huff. "We can win this, we can win this." A puff. "We can do this, we can do this." Trixie bit her lip and clenched her fists. Shakily she retrieved the remaining uzi ammunition from her pouches. Then, she unbuckled the belt hanging around her waist, allowing the extra weight to clatter among the ground. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do, but she was going to do it, all right. If her friends were gonna get beat up left and right and sacrifice themselves so the others could land a hit, then what good of a superhero- no, a guilder was she if she just wailed in the sidelines? She was supposed to be sixteen and battle-ready. With the plumes clearing up, her dropped uzis were right in her sights. All she had to do was trust the others, and hopefully her plan would work...! "Juju? Mister Bear? I'm... I'm going in."[/hider]